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British Literature Midterm
Mrs. Harvey's Brit Lit Midterm Review
59
English
12th Grade
01/21/2010

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Cards

Term
1066-1485
Definition
1485-war of the roses. this is the medieval time period.
Term
geoffrey chaucer
Definition
the "father of english literature." wrote in vernacular, not latin or french. his stories were not for or by nobility.
Term
frame story/narrative
Definition
a story "framed" by a journey. device used to pull stories together.
Term
iambic pentameter
Definition
5 beats/10 syllables per line.
Term
the wife of bath
Definition
had many husbands, lustrous, gap toothed, wants to have power in relationships. (told in her tale which was a medieval romance)
Term
tabard inn
Definition
where chaucer began the canterburry tales.
Term
baby in boat
Definition
how beowulf begins.
Term
pentangle
Definition
star shape on gawain's shield. points are 5 senses (natural intelligence), 5 fingers (natural strength), 5 wounds of christ (religious crap. "have faith" in the wounds), 5 joys of mary (force founded in), and the 5 knightly virtues (being all courteous for the weak).
Term
scop
Definition
an anglo-saxon story teller.
Term
thomas malory
Definition
wrote the english version of king arthur.
Term
morgana la fay
Definition
(fey=feo) the old hag in gawain and the green knight.
Term
twenty-nine plus one
Definition
29 pilgrims + chaucer
Term
what women most desire
Definition
POWAAH!
Term
courtly love
Definition
tradition represented in european literature. idealized love between a knight and a usually married woman. love in the purest form. exists in literature but not real life. no sex, just love.
Term
wyrd
Definition
translates to "fate." term that embodies the concept of inevitability. it is beowulf's wyrd to help king hrothgar. (his duty to return the favor)
Term
wergild
Definition
"man-gold" legal system of many germanic tribes.  it allowed an individual and his family to make amends for a crime by paying a fine known as wergild to a family of another whom he had injured or killed.
Term
to be or not to be
Definition
hamlet's battle with whether or not he should kill himself. discusses how people don't kill themselves because they don't know what to expect. if it is like dreaming, everyone would do it but they're afraid it would be a nightmare and they can't wake up from death.
Term
440-1066
Definition
anglo-saxons invade and conquer in 440. vikings raid north and east. vikings (or norsemen) then adapted french language and feudal system and invaded/conquered england.
Term
hrothgar
Definition
king of danes.  father figure of beowulf. and model for future king beowulf.
Term
sword in the stone
Definition
english story was modeled after another story.  about a king arthur and were welsh folk-tales full of myths, magic and super natural things.
Term
medieval romance
Definition

must have characteristics:

1. narrative poem/prose

2.idealized society

3.laws of nature are suspended

4.idealized hero fights evil and wins

5.often a quest or task involved

6.sometimes a conflict between one's personal desires and duties to the king/country/god

Term
pardoner
Definition
character in the canterburry tales that is greedy and sells pardons. ironic that his tale preaches against being greedy. (story of 3 men who find money) chaucer is exposing corruption by describing him. his tale is a morality tale!
Term
morality tale
Definition
what the pardoner told, a tale that tells a moral.
Term
the miller
Definition
common person with a common tale. drunk when he tells his tale. he tells a fabliau!
Term
anglo-saxon invasion
Definition
in 440 A.D. anglo-saxons and jutes invade and conquer. call it "angle-land"--->england!
Term
alliteration and assonance
Definition

alliteration=repetition of initial vowels (ex-brave beowulf) 

assonance=repetition of vowel sounds

(ex-green peas)

Term
henry VII
Definition
killed his rival richard III and won the war of the roses then became king of england.
Term
uther pendragon
Definition
main character in malory's le morte d'arthur. uther is the king of england.
Term
5 husbands
Definition
how many husbands the wife of bath had. (all kept dying)
Term
henry VIII
Definition
broke from rome and established the church of england.
Term
fabliau
Definition
a bawdy "common" tale.
Term
cuckold
Definition
the husband of an unfaithful wife.
Term
monster mother
Definition
grendel's mother that came back to kill beowulf after he killed her son.
Term
green knight
Definition
king that tricked gawain to find out if he was noble.
Term
rosencrantz and guildenstern
Definition
two old friends of hamlet's that are summoned by claudius to figure out what is wrong with hamlet.
Term
grendel
Definition
monster that murders people and gets killed by beowulf.
Term
chivalry
Definition
rules and customs of medieval knighthood.
Term
igraine
Definition
duke of cornwall's wife. uther tries to seduce her and gets tricked into having sex with him. makes a deal with merlin to get her. she then marries uther.
Term
old english
Definition
language beowulf was originally written in
Term
insanity
Definition
hamlet pretends to be insane so he wont be judged when he kills claudius. this makes ophelia literally insane.
Term
deception
Definition
the act of being deceived (i.e. igraine was decieved into thinking uther was her husband, everyone in denmark was decieved into thinking hamlet was crazy, everyone was also decieved into thinking that claudius didn't murder his brother etc.)
Term
ghost
Definition
the ghost of hamlet's father hamlet sr. was the one who told his son how he was killed and to seek revenge on caludius.
Term
temptation
Definition
to test gawain, the green knight tempts him with many things.  gawain only caves to one temptation, the green sash because he thinks it will keep him from getting killed.
Term
1485-1600
Definition
henry VII is king of england.
Term
middle english
Definition
what gawain and the green knight was written in.
Term
one year and one day
Definition
how long gawain had until he would face his death?
Term
green belt
Definition
temptation that gawain gave into because he thought it could save him.
Term
descendent of cain
Definition
cain is like satan. descendant=grendell.
Term
rosemary for rememberance
Definition
flower that ophelia gives to her brother after she went nutso. to remember her father and her before she went crazy.
Term
horatio
Definition
friend to hamlet that hamlet is telling the whole story to.
Term
kennings
Definition

a metaphor that takes the place of a noun.

(i.e. battle dew --> blood)

Term
hrunting
Definition
the magical sword given to beowulf by unferth.
Term
holy grail
Definition
a sacred object in literature. sword in sword and the stone.
Term
queen elizabeth I
Definition
english renaissance is commonly referred to as the elizabethan period.
Term
pilgrimages
Definition
a religious journey.
Term
direct and indirect characterization
Definition

direct=the author makes a direct referrance to a character. (he was tall)

indirect=reveals facts about a character through thoughts. (he towered over all of his fellow classmates)

Term
verse narrative
Definition
what chaucer writes in, a poem that tells a story.
Term
william the conqueror.
Definition
led invasion of england in 1066. first was duke of normandy.
Term
thomas a becket
Definition
was the archbishop of canterburry.
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